Security concerns determine fate of Vanni IDPs

By Jehan Perera

(August 25, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The humanitarian crisis in the north is once again taking centre stage in Sri Lanka’s international relations with the heavy rains that have flooded sections of the camps in which over a quarter of a million people are currently residing. These are the very people about whose fate the international human rights organizations and several foreign governments began to agitate during the last phase of the war. The visual images of tents into which water is seeping, and children and adults alike standing in the water and sewage, cannot but evoke humanitarian compassion. The Sri Lankan government has come under increased pressure to improve the conditions of those camps, which it is committed to doing, and also to release the people, which it has problems doing.

In early 2007 the Sri Lankan military began to make its way from the west coast to the east coast of the Northern Province to recapture the large swathes of territory held by the LTTE. When the LTTE found itself unable to withstand the military assault, it fell back along with the civilian population, whom it compelled to accompany it. The issue of these trapped civilians received a high degree of international attention and became a tool of propaganda warfare between the government and LTTE. The government’s position was that the LTTE was engaged in a hitherto unprecedented act, taking a vast population of more than 300,000 as hostages. The LTTE pointed to the presence of the civilians as proof that they backed the LTTE rather than the government.

By the time of the defeat of the LTTE nearly all of these civilians had crossed over into government-controlled territory where they were put into welfare centres. The issue that is proving to be the most contentious in Sri Lanka’s post-war context is that of the approximately 280,000 internally displaced persons who are presently confined to 32 welfare centres in the North. This is taken as a necessary, and temporary, situation by the government and majority of people. But the fact that the entire population of that part of the Vanni region, including the well-to-do and educated people who resided there, are detained and guarded by the security forces has been deeply wounding to the larger Tamil population, and not merely to those inside the camps.

While the facilities within the welfare camps have been a source of concern, the most controversial issue has been the barbed wire fences and army guards that surround them which deny to the people the freedom to move. There has also been no registering of people in a transparent manner. Hence even if people disappear there is no way to trace them. The government has claimed that over 10,000 LTTE cadre have been discovered in these camps, and there are more to be found. The separation of family members, some of whom are in one camp, while the others are in other camps, is also a very grave concern to which urgent attention has been given. Few of the displaced persons except for those over 60 years of age or those with serious injuries or sicknesses have been permitted to leave the camps although steps are being taken to increase the numbers of those permitted to leave.

Government concerns

The government has sought to justify its detention of the civilian population on at least three grounds. The first is that they cannot be permitted to go back to their home areas as these have been mined by the LTTE and need to be de-mined before resettlement is possible. A second reason for not permitting the people back to their home areas is that hidden arms caches of the LTTE are constantly being unearthed. The government would need to find these arms caches prior to resettling the people, or else risk these arms falling into the hands of rebel and criminal groups. The third reason for keeping the people within the camps is to screen out LTTE cadre who may be hiding amongst them.

The government’s handling of the problem of the displaced persons appears to be largely determined by its successful approach to dealing with the LTTE through a military solution and an extension of a frame of mind that gave first place to military considerations. From a security-centred perspective permitting this population to enjoy the freedom of movement could give rise to security threats. The hidden arms caches of the LTTE could fall into the hands of the returning population. An influx of displaced persons into Colombo, where large numbers of Tamils from the north and east already live, could offer LTTE cadre an opportunity to make contact with sleeper cells in the city.

The government’s concern about the displaced people is not lessened by the fact that most of them accompanied the LTTE on its last retreat from west coast to east coast. The wariness about them is heightened by the fact that many if not most of the displaced people lived under LTTE control for two or more decades. During this period they were subjected to mass scale indoctrination, arms training and recruitment by the LTTE, who made virtually the entire population complicit with the insurgency. As a result of these security concerns, at the present time the government’s efforts are focused on improving the facilities and living conditions within the welfare centres rather than in resettling the people.

Easing conditions

The flooding caused by rains has brought to the fore a major source of friction between the government and international aid agencies, which has been whether the facilities in the camps should be of a temporary or semi permanent nature. Most international agencies have taken the position that they will provide temporary structures, as they do not wish to encourage long term stay for the displaced population. This has met with government criticism that the international agencies are providing sub standard facilities. The flooding of the camps, and the collapse of the toilets and drainage systems, indicate that greater care should have been taken in upgrading the facilities of the camps, irrespective of the duration of the stay of their inhabitants.

However, the government’s treatment of the displaced population is only mitigated by the efforts it is taking to improve their living conditions in the camps. UNHCR’s Update on the IDP Situation dated July 7, 2009 states that the "freedom of movement remains the overriding issue at all the emergency shelter sites accommodating those from the former conflict zones." If they were indeed provided with this freedom, many if not most of the displaced persons will be able to move in with relatives or host families who live outside the formerly LTTE-controlled areas which the government claims have to be de-mined and de-weaponised before people can be sent back there.

Partly in response to international pressure from neighbouring India and donor countries to resettle these people in their homes, the Sri Lankan government has pledged to resettle the bulk of them by the end of this year. The most recent commitment on this issue has been to the International Monetary Fund as part of its pledges to secure a USD 2.6 billion loan. The government has economic reasons for resettling the displaced persons as their upkeep requires approximately USD 2 million a day which it can ill afford. In addition, there are indications that the people in the camps are getting increasingly restive, with protests taking place against the low quality of life within the camps and the separation of families who are in different camps.

The government needs to also reconsider its conceptions of security and reframe it to include the longer term as well. Confining the displaced people to the welfare centres might spare the country from terrorist attacks at this time by preventing any possible LTTE cadre from infiltrating out of the camps. But prolonged detention of the people will come at the cost of increased alienation of the Tamil people in general and will permit anti government forces to mobilize opposition to the government both at the national and international levels. Hard line elements in the Tamil diaspora who seek confrontation with the government will be able to mobilize support on the basis of the harsh treatment of the displaced population which would prove to be a threat to national security in the future. There needs to be a balance between short term and longer term security concerns.

-Sri Lanka Guardian